What is your name?
Dr. Brad Kile.

What kind of work do you do in the college?
I am Teaching Faculty in the Political Science department here at Florida State University, as well as the Director of the Masters of Applied American Politics & Policy Program. And more recently, I have started as the Director of Outreach for Florida State University’s new Institute of Politics. I teach, do research and engage in service in the department, profession and community.

Why did you decide to become an academic?
Having worked in politics for nearly 10 years, I was curious about how my first-hand experience reconciled with academic findings in the field of political science.  More specifically, I was in Washington, DC working in the complex area of health care policy which required a lot of sifting through academic research that evaluated different policy options. I recognized that I needed advanced training to fully understand the research to make informed decisions about which policies would help more people access health care. I decided to pursue my PhD in political science with a focus on health care policy to gain the analytical skills and knowledge that would allow me to be an advocate for health care reform.

What do you find most fulfilling about your job?
The students! I’ve been in academia for over 20 years and without question my favorite part is interacting with students. While teaching can be exhausting at times, I find that I always get out of it what I put into it. I also enjoy learning from the students about their perspectives, which often challenge the way I think about politics and the world. 

What are you working on or teaching right now that has your excited professionally?
Great things are happing in the College of Social Sciences & Public Policy and I’m most excited about building experiential learning opportunities for our students. Currently, I am working to open internship opportunities for our students through our broad alumni network in the Masters of Applied Politics & Policy (MAAPP) program.  Many of our MAAPP alumni have established themselves in prominent careers in the Florida political arena and nationally in Washington, DC.  We’re creating opportunities for our current students to gain professional experience by working with our MAAPP alumni. I am amazed at the support our alumni are providing to our current students to help them begin to build a career in politics. The love our alumni are showing their fellow Noles is humbling and is an example of the powerful impact a group of like-minded people can make when working together.

Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
I’ve been exploring nonviolent communication through readings and group discussions and it has been a game-changer in the way I approach my human interactions. (www.cnvc.org).  It’s allowed me to slow down and focus on listening -to myself as well as others – to honor universal values and needs. 

The feature image is from Pexels.